Chris Britt, editorial cartoonist for the State Journal-Register, has been fired.

Britt was let go this morning.

“I was just informed,” Britt said.

Britt, who began his career as an editorial cartoonist in 1990 and joined the State Journal-Register staff nine years later, said he wasn’t sure whether he was given a reason for his firing.

“They may have – I was just in a little bit of a daze,” Britt said. “Economic re-structuring, or something like that.”

The newspaper last week informed copy editors that their jobs would be eliminated this summer, with a net loss of ten full-time positions. Two days later, the newspaper began firing other people, with at least eleven people laid off in various departments, sources have told Illinois Times. The newspaper shut down its press last year, moving printing to Peoria with a loss of more than 50 jobs in Springfield.

Bean counters tend to put editorial page cartoonists on the lowest rung of the food chain. I’ve always thought that was odd, believing a good cartoonist can draw lots more people to an editorial page than the actual editorials or columnists. Britt is one of the best. He’s gonna be missed.

So much for loyalty. I’ll bet Britt could have parted with Gatehouse on his own a while back to reach a broader audience and make a little more money. He stuck with them and this is how they repay his loyalty. I honestly didn’t think my disrespect for that paper’s management could sink any lower. Best of luck, Britt.

Maybe Chris could join the Capt Fax as the graphics dept. Think of all the cool shirts and stuff your could pedal!
BTW bean counters probably don’t know what an editorial cartoonist is
BTW-2 is the goal trying to print a newspaper with no live bodies… just circ drivers and agregated pix and copy. Push it out the door until someone notices. What is the over/under on that?

They have started printing out of town, the paper will be laid out in the chicago suburbs, they are laying off people who create content and their building is for sale. Springfield has no daily newspaper.

I would LOVE to see what Britt creates to note this event….please let us know where he ends up. I have a framed, autographed print of his tribute to Paul Simon hanging in my office as I type. I asked Britt for a copy for the museum, and he replied quickly and generously.
I know he will land on his feet, and hope this is the best thing that ever happens to him.

I sometimes disagreed with Chris (and told him so!) but I always appreciated / respected the wit, humor and talent he brought to the table. Here’s hoping he lands on his feet and surpasses his past work …

I was wondering why no new cartoons for a while. I don’t always agree with Britt, but he seems to call it like he sees it. I do know the conservative republicans would always line up in the paper’s online comments section to hate on Britt. They’ll count it a personal victory over “librul media eleets”, probably ask the paper to run the humorless Mallard Fillmore strip there instead. It would be awesome to put Doonesbury back on there, but I doubt that will happen.

Britt has received national recognition for his cartoons before, and I feel he’ll land on his feet thru personal syndication to papers that matter, and online in general. He’s too good to go without work for too long. Illinois Times would be a good fit for him, I think. And they seem to know how to run a business as well.

What’s sad is losing the local Springfield view from Britt: you need that gadfly in there jabbing away and raising awareness of issues, or too many deeds get done in the dark. It’s really tragic how far the SJ-R has fallen under Gatehouse’s management, and I don’t think it’s reached the basement yet. A sharp reader will notice the outsourced copy editing has already lead to lots more typos and bad headlines. More beat reporters being lost means ever less relevant content, and it’s content that delivers the advertising that pays the bills.

Gatehouse is doing a Gordon Gekko on the paper; if they could get away with it, I’d not be surprised if they burned it down for the insurance.

Cassiopeia, I used to have a political cartoonist. He did a “Fax Toon” for me every other week. But he went back to being a full-time lawyer. Too bad, because he had great stuff. I think Chris is gonna need a full-time gig, which I can’t offer. But I called him earlier this morning, so we’ll see what he says when he calls me back.

Each year at the Kiss A Pig Fundraiser for the American Diabetes Association, I purchase one of his cartoons. I think to date I have at least five, three of which hang in my college dorm room. As those of us who read multiple papers realize, Chris is truly one of the best in the industry both in terms of artistic quality and content. His presence at the paper is one of the few reasons I read the online version from St. Louis every day, but I don’t think I will be renewing my subscription for that now next month.

Several years ago at Daily Kos, there was a popular commenter who did a daily diary that many liked, but had to stop due to employment concerns. They went to the community and did a fundraiser to pay him to keep doing it. Maybe Cap Fax could do that to defray a portion the cost of keeping Britt active in Illinois

Adding Britt to your site (and perhaps a design upgrade to accomodate)? could add eyeballs and take your site to the next level.

Dumb, dumb, dumb. Just one more nail in the coffin containing my SJ-R subscription. Even though I often disagreed with Chris Britt’s take, his cartoons both made me think…and made me laugh; two commodities that these days are in short supply.

It’s important for local newspapers to jettison from their publications any unique content — especially content that is local in nature. Local papers should do their best to be wholly generic and strive for content that looks as much like yesterday’s Yahoo! News as possible. Local papers will only survive if they have a laser-like focus on the things they just don’t do very well and cast off those things that might possibly justify the cost of a newspaper subscription.

Cripe, I always looked forward to Chris’ editorial cartoons. Those and the best of cartoons that they used to run in Sunday’s edition which they stopped when they went to the skinny paper. I wonder where their thinking is. We get the glossy Springfield magazine pawned off on us, that flopped as a subscription elitist publication, and they let Chris go. I’ve been reading the SJ-R for decades with my first cup of coffee for decades. Maybe it’s time to say good-bye…

Gatehouse is looking to slash/consolidate whatever offices or duties possible. I would assume the SJ-R and Gatehouse plenty of complaints (right or wrong) against Mr. Britt. If it came down to what the SJ-R thought was palatable, perhaps they felt it better to keep around some of the more milquetoast columnists and reports. I also think the SJ-R wants to continue its large statehouse and political reporting/gossip presence.

Well that was the straw…. after months of watching the quality of its local coverage decline and increasingly wondering why we still get the SJR, the decision is made…. one cancelled subscription with explanation as to why given…

The SJ-R’s editorial page is now so awfully bad that I recently found them running the same syndicated column twice in a week’s time. There is not much reason to buy that rag these days. The smaller size sheets don’t even work very well to spread in the puppy enclosure or under a painting project. Can anyone recommend a good paper available in the Springfield area?

How are they going to fill all white space on the editorial page that used to be taken up by Britt’s cartoon and the angry letters from readers complaining about his liberal-piece-of-@#$%^ cartoons? Even when his cartoons weren’t entertaining, the reactions always were.

Chris will land well. He’s one of the best. He can syndacate….I hope. SJR was short-sighted with this. Every time I turn around SJR is trying to boost its subscriptions so why let go of a great political cartoonist in the capitol city?????

Re: Esteban, It’s hard to believe they would just let go of any potential page views by breaking any incoming links that may be out there. And, guess what? The old cartoons have NOT been removed (at least not yet). You can still find the archive here (for now): http://www.sj-r.com/cartoon

SJ-R since Gatehouse has slowly listing like the Costa Concordia. Throwing Chris Britt overboard shows their leadership to be on par w/ that ship’s infamous captain. While I could never stand Copley’s editorial policies, they at least had a newspaper. I don’t know what SJ-R is becoming…Bon Voyage Chris Britt, I know you will land in a greater place!

From some conversations with Chris over the years, he didn’t always include his own political opinions in the cartoons. Sometimes he was just highlighting the absurdity of a particular situation and provoking discussion of the issue.

I always enjoyed his pieces. Whether or not you agreed with him, he made you think about what your thoughts on the subject were, which I think is the whole point of a political cartoon. I certainly will miss him, and am pretty sure this solidifies my decision to cease reading the SJ-R. It is not our local paper anymore. I wish the best in your next endeavor, Mr. Britt.

I can’t believe the newspaper would get rid of one of the best assets they have EVER had over there! Whoever is running that place should be fired!! Britt will certainly go on to bigger and better places than SJ-R. It is a huge loss for those of us who have enjoyed his creativity and incredible tal
ent for years!!

whether you loved or hated his work… The State Journal-Register ends a 23 year tradition… One more piece just hacked away. Press Room and related departments=gone. Ad production=gone in a month. Copy editors and page designers = gone in… a couple of months, plus countless others that weren’t even given the courtesy of time, they were just shown the door that day. All so Gatehouse CEOs can keep getting their obscene bonuses for running countless newspaper into the ground. They strip the meat to the bone, somtimes even eating the bone and expel a pile of sh*t when they finish, caring nothing for the communities that these paper serve of the people who dedicated lives and resources to their jobs

The doctor is leaning over the SJ-R and yelling “Clear”.
I wondered when the last Cartoonist left the paper for bigger and better things if they could intice a suitable replacement for this size market.
Chris has more than done so.

Some time ago the question was asked here ( What does Springfield need.)

Chris is a class act- a true opinion journalist. I have watched his career with growing admiration for a decade. He took the hits and kept his voice true to a core set of beliefs. I don’t think Springfield even realizes what a service he has provided to this community. No SJ-R firing to date will be felt across the community like this one.

While I seldom agreed with Britt, he was talented, but of late too left leaning for my tastes, even for the sj-r which once had a more balanced outlook.
How a guy could spend 4 toons on Gingrich’s Tiffany spending and see nothing when it came to billions in failed ’stimulus’ programs like Solyndra or outright gifts to Union Pacific amazed me.
I’ll admit I seldom missed a column, but too often found them not to my way of thinking…and my judgement is impeccable??
His supporters said he was a Springfield institution and we were lucky to have him…well one man’s loss is another man’s gain.
I wish him luck and hope he finds a new spot quickly.

Someone upthread compared the SJ-R to the Costa Concordia and that is quite apt as the executive editor John K. Broadbooks left only a few weeks ago just before these layoffs kicked into full gear. Coincidence perhaps, or maybe the guy knew what was coming and didn’t have the stomach for it. However, something tells me he pulled a Francesco Schettino and abandoned ship. His contempt for readers and staff was unmistakable.